Outhouse

For a while I have been curious about a glass structure that you can just glimpse through trees, driving past along Menlove Avenue heading out of Liverpool. Today I decided to stop and take a look. It’s a public artwork (‘sculpture’ doesn’t seem quite right to describe a glass enclosure that can be entered and used for community activities)  created by Vong Phaophanit and Claire Oboussier in 2005 and called Outhouse.

Outhouse is made of etched and transparent glass, and sited in a band of woodland in Woolton on a key route into Liverpool, in close proximity to four 1960s tower blocks. Inspired by the form of a new local terraced house but scaled to two thirds of its size, the inverts the appearance of a typical house, with the windows becoming opaque and the walls transparent. During the day Outhouse offers an accessible inviting space, a site for meetings, activities and installations.

The sculpture is highly reflective and partially camouflaged by the surrounding woodland, its appearance changing with the weather and time of day.

During the day Outhouse, suggestive of a large den, offers an accessible inviting space for use by the local community. Inside blocks of sandstone arranged at differing heights mark the position where internal doors would be located in the original house.

The artists intended the artwork as a ‘proposition’ making no prescription of how the sculpture should be used by the local community. Currently, Alan Dunn and Jitender Shambi are curating a series of projects for the space with local residents. These have included ‘A Night Of Illumination’ by architects Mueller Kneer who transformed the structure into a walk-in lantern and a Remembrance Sunday display of poppies. The artwork has also been the subject of a series of workshops with local young people led by Caspar Jones which resulted in the design of the glass safety strips on the sculpture.

‘Outhouse’ was selected through a competitive design process where five artists were invited by the HAT’s Public Art Steering Group to submit proposals. The group’s decision to support Outhouse was informed by comments from the public exhibition of all the artists’ designs at the Woolton Community Centre in 2001.

At night-time the sculpture is visible from afar, lit from underneath by neon, creating a glowing red landmark within the dark woodland. Outhouse is cared for and maintained by the Guinness Trust and its programme of events and activities overseen by local residents.

Vong Phaophanit and Claire Oboussier’s proposal for a contentious site in North Belfast was featured in the recent Channel 4 series, Big Art.

Outhouse’ by artists Vong Phaophanit and Claire Oboussier was conceived as a sculpture and a useable social space. The sculpture is located in a strip of woodland in Woolton, in close proximity to four 1960s tower blocks, and on a key route into Liverpool. Outhouse inverts the appearance and construction of a typical home. Based on a local terraced house scaled to two thirds of its size with transparent glass walls and opaque windows. The sculpture is highly reflective and partially camouflaged by the surrounding woodland, its appearance changing with the weather and time of day.During the day ‘Outhouse’, suggestive of a large den, offers an accessible inviting space for use by the local community. Inside blocks of sandstone arranged at differing heights mark the position of the once internal doors. At night the sculpture is visible from afar, lit from underneath by neon, to create a glowing red landmark within the dark woodland.The artists intended the artwork as a ‘proposition’ making no prescription of how the sculpture should be used by the local community. Currently, Alan Dunn and Jitender Shambi are curating a series of projects for the space with local residents. These have included ‘A Night Of Illumination’ by architects Mueller Kneer who transformed the structure into a walk-in lantern and a Remembrance Sunday display of poppies. The artwork has also been the subject of a series of workshops with local young people led by Caspar Jones which resulted in the design of the glass safety strips on the sculpture.Funded by the Liverpool Housing Action Trust, The Guinness Trust and Arts Council England.

Further Information

Liverpool Housing Action Trust has developed a Public Art Programme linked to its regeneration projects in Woolton and Sefton Park. A further commission by artist Andrew Holmes was realised for Sefton Park in November 2005. These commissions are seen as of particular importance for Liverpool as it works towards hosting European Capital of Culture in 2008. The HAT worked in partnership with the Guinness Trust (the HAT’s partner landlord/developer for the tower block refurbishment at Woolton) to realise ‘Outhouse’. The sculpture’s initial lifespan is ten years and the Guinness Trust will care for and maintain it over this period. A panel co-ordinated by the Guinness Trust will oversee the sculpture during this time and includes local residents and representatives from the Arts Council and Liverpool-based visual arts organisations.

‘Outhouse’ was selected through a competitive design process where five artists were invited by the HAT’s Public Art Steering Group to submit proposals. The group’s decision to support ‘Outhouse’ was informed by comments from the public exhibition of all the artists’ designs at the Woolton Community Centre in 2001.